East Meets West

Orient and Occident: Two diverse universes and two distant mentalities finally able to meet and confront one another. By shaking up a dialogue between eastern and western art, their respective iconographic and figurative languages, and by analysing the two contrasting cultures and scientific approaches we will discuss stories of yesterday that still vibrate in the present and will pave the way of the world of tomorrow.

A few nights ago, as he ate a lemon slowly bite by bite, my son unintentionally swallowed a seed along with the fruit of the lemon, and then exclaimed soon thereafter: “That’s okay, all it means is that I will grow the tree of life in my stomach!” (Va bene, vorrà dire che mi crescerà[...]

Despite the lack of direct historical references about the history of Perugia in the early Christian age, we know that around the seventh century Perugia was part of the Byzantine state: a large Christian state that was based on the structure of the Exarchate, whose network of territories were defended by a specialized and multi-ethnic[...]

The legend of St. George, the holy knight who rescued the princess from the terrible dragon that threatened her, gave birth to a famous subject that was widespread within the figurative arts during the Middle Ages and the Renaissance.
The scene of the dragon slayer versus the mythical monster represents the Catholic belief in Christ’s triumph[...]

It seems that our custom to exchange gifts during Christmas comes from some ancient traditions practiced at the Saturnalia, one of the most popular holidays in the Roman calendar.
The Saturnalia festival, that in later centuries would change into the Brumalia festival (from bruma, winter solstice), represented an occasion for visiting friends and presenting gifts,[...]

Isis, wife of Osiris and mother of Horus, is also commonly associated with another ancient Egyptian deity named Hathor. This name, which literally means “house of Horus”, represents a symbolic lap for her son, who is also the son of Osiris.
Following suit of her many forms, Hathor was the goddess of love as well as[...]